USA Pro Challenge's final stage to start on Boulder's Pearl Street

Onlookers are kept back at Canyon Boulevard and 17th Street in Boulder as riders including Liu Biao speed by during the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in 2012. (Lewis Geyer)

Map of Stage 7

The final stage of the 2014 USA Pro Challenge will start in downtown Boulder and circle the Pearl Street Mall twice before heading through University Hill en route to Golden and a downtown Denver finish.

At a news conference Tuesday, officials announced the routes for all seven stages of this year's cycling race, which will run Aug. 18-24 and cover 262 miles around the state.

The USA Pro Challenge's final stage was left to a fan vote, and race organizers announced in December that voters asked for a stage start in Boulder on the final day of the race.

"We feel really good about this," said Jens Husted, chairman of the event's local organizing committee. "It basically keeps Boulder's history of bike racing going forward, and to have it continue on here is huge."

The 4-year-old race returns to Boulder after the city hosted the finish of a stage of the race in 2012, with racers climbing Flagstaff Mountain. Boulder did not bid to host a stage in the 2013 race, and local organizers bid only to host a start for the 2014 race.

Shortly after noon Aug. 24, the racers will head west from the intersection of 18th and Pearl streets, looping twice around downtown via 19th, Walnut, 11th, Spruce and 15th streets, in that order.

They'll then head south on Broadway toward University Hill, turning right onto 13th Street, then left onto College Avenue. The racers will hop back on Broadway and head south on Colo. 93 toward Golden.

Boulder's portion of the stage is mostly "neutral," meaning competitors won't be passing one another. They'll begin actually racing one another after passing the intersection of Broadway and Regent Drive.

Former competitive cyclist and Boulder native Tim Duggan raced in the 2012 USA Pro Challenge when it came through Boulder. He said Tuesday that cycling through his hometown during that race was one of the "most memorable days of my career."

"I was blown away by the crowd," he said. "There were times when I couldn't tell where I was. These were streets I grew up on, but I couldn't tell because the landmarks were covered by throngs of people."

Husted said finishing a stage at Flagstaff Mountain again would have been ideal, but given flood damage to the area, a start in downtown is the next-best option.

"Having a start here is better than nothing, and it kind of keeps us in the game," he said. "A finish that didn't include Flagstaff would have been less than ideal. So it was either do nothing or have the start."

Though Flagstaff wasn't even on the table this year, Husted said his committee would push to bring the race back there soon.

"It'd be great to see them come back there," local cycling hobbyist Jon Carroll said. "I want to see how bad they can humble us normal folks on Flagstaff."

"It really is an epic finish up there," added cyclist Claire Farley, of Boulder. "I don't think I'll even see the start this year. It's kind of boring and ceremonial."

Indeed, the "neutral" designation given to Boulder's downtown section will deprive spectators of a chance to see the racers at top speed, but Husted said there are advantages to hosting a start.

"One of the fun parts of this is that all the racers will be very accessible for kids, families, taking pictures," he said. "We also really liked the idea of having them go around in a circuit on Pearl. If they hadn't, it would've been a one-time thing where they'd get out of town."

Husted said the Challenge's directors initially wanted the circuit to stretch westward to Ninth Street, but the local committee nixed that idea because of construction on that end of the mall.

After leaving Boulder, the racers will continue with the fan-favorite climb up Lookout Mountain, before passing through Golden, which hosted big crowds in the 2012 race. They'll race west and through much of Denver, finishing in Civic Center Park.

The race starts Aug. 18 in Aspen with a circuit race. Stage 2 rolls from Aspen, over Independence and Cottonwood passes and through Gunnison before finishing at Mount Crested Butte.

Stage 3 goes from Gunnison to Monarch Mountain ski area. The 10,790-foot finish at the ski area will be the highest pro cycling stage in North America.

Stage 4 will be a circuit race in Colorado Springs. Stage 5 will go from Woodland Park to Breckenridge, and Stage 6 will be a time trial up Vail Pass.

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